The seventh annual Art Basel Miami Beach fair, which opened to VIP collectors on Dec. 3 and ran through Dec. 7, was subdued and slow, in sharp contrast with the glitzy, frenzied atmosphere of last year’s edition. Read More

During four days of sales at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the predominantly Asian buyers spent $106 million (excluding watches) on Chinese jade, porcelain, Imperial accessories and ink brushwork paintings.
But it was the contemporary Chinese art sale on the second day that doubled expectations, with a diverse crowd of buyers leaping at works created in this century. Top lots went to Taiwanese, Indonesian, Korean, mainland Chinese and American collectors. (Sotheby’s sales this year were held from April 7-10, three weeks earlier than the usual late April/early May time, when Christie’s still holds its sales.) Read More

In its fourth year Art Basel Miami Beach firmed up its reputation as the must-attend fair for contemporary art. Organizers report that the event drew 36,000 visitors, 9 percent more than last year, to the Miami Beach Convention Center.
The fair does not release overall sales figures, but many returning dealers in attendance believe results were even stronger than a year ago. “We did better than last year,” says Dominique Lévy of Manhattan’s L&M Arts, which sold a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing for just under $1 million and a Keith Haring painting for around $500,000. Read More

With a dual-venue exhibition in Los Angeles, comics by masters such as Winsor McCay, Chris Ware, and Charles Schulz have been elevated from pop culture to fine art. But as these artists receive their due, the show has sparked debate over the rightful place of women in the comic canon. Read More